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发表于 2011-1-16 13:02
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2# 爱城四少
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Four people were injured in a fire Thursday at the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Horizon oilsands site north of Fort McMurray.
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' K: ^; @! g0 t2 |& ]& k/ X, r2 PThree of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.
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9 t. [( L" S8 G& \* K8 b+ SOne worker was being treated for second and third-degree burns, the most serious types. A second suffered first-degree burns, and a third person had a neck injury.
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" u# d7 D* g; x3 Y' oThe fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.
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, W0 ?6 _, e; h0 C i"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement.
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" L. u. ^: ?+ C- F8 i8 H( qReports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.
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& k2 K6 X4 ?# c( v$ v- wA witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."! A# X# c& Y/ g4 j3 h6 M* r, W1 O
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And a man whose wife works at the plant was concerned for her safety. "It is a ball of fire," said the man, who would not be named.$ Q9 G( A1 O/ v7 h8 {
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Alberta Environment was notified about the incident.
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' U: m0 `3 E8 z' y: u* OChris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."
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The fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down.6 ]7 j7 m4 Y. A8 n' w% i
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By 7 p.m., the fuel source of the fire had been isolated and the fire was contained to the coker area.
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0 _( y8 g% D+ y9 y( sAir quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.
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The Calgary-based company said oil production has been suspended and there is no word as to when it will resume.
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3 |/ x+ n* {. ^"Canadian Natural's first priority is the well-being of our personnel and to safely control the situation," said CNRL in a statement.$ R; b ]& V! n. g! g
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The upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.
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Horizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.
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It is impossible to gauge the impact on the company -- or how the incident might affect multibillion-dollar expansion plans for Horizon -- until the extent of the damage is known, said Michael Dunn, an analyst with FirstEnergy Capital Corp.
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7 A6 @9 @0 h0 J7 s% eA spokeswoman for Alberta's Employment and Immigration department said its officers were on their way to the site to conduct investigation.( R7 S! M9 i1 m$ E0 d! I
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The company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.
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Canadian Natural, Canada's No. 1 independent oil producer, said earlier Thursday that Horizon's output averaged 83,700 barrels per day in December, down 22% from November, as it shut down the upgrader's coker unit for repairs. The company said it had restarted the unit.+ g* z% W" [* `* Y2 S
# B5 b& Z0 e) D! a1 v6 s% n. ^+ HFires in the complex upgraders have been relatively frequent. Production at Suncor Energy Inc.'s oilsands project was hobbled when a fire broke out at one of its two upgraders in December 2009. A second unit was damaged in another blaze last February.0 A1 o2 ^8 l, |& U; A. w
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Horizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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